Yes
3% (6)

No
97% (201)

207 total votes.

We'd like to hear from you

If you're an employer who would like to have Facebook passwords of prospective employees, of if you're a job seeker who has ever been asked to share a Facebook password during an interview, we'd like to speak with you for a larger story.

Please contact me at jonathan.horn@utsandiego.com

The interaction is becoming more heavily reported by job interviewees, to the point that Facebook on March 23 released a statement blasting the practice and saying it could open up employers to discrimination claims. The company made it a violation of their "Rights and Responsibilities" to share a Facebook password and said it would pursue its options to limit the practice, whether engaging legislators, taking legal action, or blocking applications.

The statement by Erin Egan, Facebook's chief privacy officer, said in part:

"As a user, you shouldn't be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job... We don't think employers should be asking prospective employees to provide their passwords because we don't think it's the right thing to do."

Facebook and other social networks allow users to control what information they expose to the public, but potential employers using login credentials can bypass these privacy protections. This allows employers to access private information, including personal communications, religious views, national origin, family history, gender, marital status, and age. If employers asked for some of this information directly, it would violate federal anti-discrimination law. We are concerned that collecting this sensitive information under the guise of a background check may simply be a pretext for discrimination.

So what's one thing to do if you are asked for your Facebook password in a job interview?

James Tarbox, who directs the career center at San Diego State University, called it a "red flag" if an employer asks for social media credentials in a first interview. If asked, he said:

"The standard comeback that students should have is how is this information going to be used?"

Tarbox said if the information being sought is not relevant to being hired, then the question shouldn't be asked. He said he hadn't heard any recent reports of students being asked for Facebook passwords in job interviews. Tarbox recalled one about a year ago for a public relations position, which he said was part of the final employment agreement. Tarbox also said he's hearing of some companies not allowing employees to list their workplace on their Facebook pages.